you're watching first business: financial news, analysis, and today's investment ideas. hello everybody, i'm angela miles, and thank you for joining us on today's first business. coming up in this edition, we are getting into the spirit of giving by checking in on charities. how americans are opening up their wallets, and why some nonprofits are facing a new dilemma. plus, we'll take a look at the advances parents are making to help their children become financially savvy. college costs continue to soar. our guest is dishing out tips on cutting the expense. why he says you don't have to be at the top of your class to find a top scholarship. and, let the holiday movie season commence. a review of some of the biggest and smallest flicks to hit the big screen in the coming months.

nonprofit organizations are facing a big dilemna: many of their donors are elderly, in poor health and there are fewer of them each year, and there aren't enough new donors to pick up the slack. in our cover story, how one non-profit is using business strategies to make a difference. the privately-funded pritzker military library is one of chicago's best-kept secrets. "our biggest problem is no one knows we're here." but the pritzker is changing that, promoting social media to participate in live presentations on subjects you might think would be of little interest to the "connected generation" - the war of 1812's bicentential. "a friend of mine invited me. i had no idea about the war of 1812. it was a unique opportunity." pritzker prompts thousands of facebook hits, tweets and anything else kenneth clarke, its president, can think of to reach out and extend the virtual footprint of this newly-renovated library above michigan avenue, open to the public. "there are books for kids like

'your father is about to be deployed, how do you feel about that?' and it's written in a relevant way for children." while the vast majority of pritzker's $4 million annual budget comes from retired illinois army national guard colonel james n. pritzker, whose family owns hyatt hotels, royal carribean cruise lines and the marmon group, the library is making a huge effort to attract supporters far younger than retirement age. "as a teacher of us history, the war of 1812 is a forgotten war and it's hard to find resources easily." across the u.s., non-profits need to expand their base of supporters. since 2006, the number of new doners giving to non-profits nationwide has dropped 14.6%, and there are fewer doners in general - down 5.3%. pritzker's strategy to pull together groups involves partnering with other non- profits on projects to meet a common goal. it's worked for other non-profits. now, it's pritzker's turn.

"i think that as people realize that the funding pool is shared and donors are saying more and more, why don't you work together, i think it will become more evident." not all nonprofits are lucky enough to have a wealthy benefactor at the helm. non- profits having the toughest time in 2012 include animal welfare groups, health groups and international relief efforts. gold is a costly commodity that's valued everywhere but has particular cultural significance on the subcontinent of india. paul eggers files this story on the precious metal. while the sights outside this shop may seem foreign and the sign up top definitely is in another language, the merchandise inside, gold, is familiar to most every american. for joyant chokesee, gold is more than just a precious metal. it's the family business. "i'm in the fourth generation, my father, my grandfather and my great grandfather were in the same business, and i have been in it since 1989, so 22

years now." his store, named ami jewellers to honor his wife, lies in a small town called in the north of india called umreth, population 38,000. still, the community supports some 54 gold shops. that's one shop for just over every 700 citizens. the ratio underscores the importance of gold across india. "every function of every people, they try to give gold gifts. in certain communities, it is compulsory to give gold." of course, there is no function for gold quite like an indian wedding. "marriage season, the parents give the kids a lot of gold jewelry." > > is that when you see the most action? "absolutely." on this day, the action came from a family shopping for their future daughter-in-law. "they bought a mongol sutra with earings, a necklace with earrings and another chain.

turns out to be about 216,000 indian rupees." at today's exchange rate, that buy translates to more than $4,000 in gold. and while not every indian can afford that kind of outlay, all families will need to buy some gold when their children get married. "if from the lady's side they don't come up with the gold, there's going to be a problem. so they have to buy a lot of gold. they don't have a choice." > > everyone? "everyone. believe me everyone." more than just a gift, gold is valued as a safe investment, and for its liquidity. "you have gold, you can sell it into the marketplace and grab the money. it's so easy." the new shipping complex behind me in the southern city of kochin represents the booming economy. and with growth projections here as high as 7% for the year, the expanding indian market for goal could push prices past $2500 an ounce. "buy it, keep it, buy 24-carat gold, put it in a locker, and when you need money, turn

around and sell it and make good money on it." > > and come to umreth to do it. "yes, come to my shop!" reporting from india, paul eggers, first business news. the indian government tightly regulates the gold market by testing jewelery for quality. chokesee believes this is a positive, because it helps protect customers from low- quality pieces. an overwhelming number of parents in the u.s. believe their children are growing up without learning valuable life skills such as how to manage their money. as many as 7 out of 10 parents expect these lessons to be taught in public school. nathaniel and stacey didomenico's young daughter, arianna, is more ahead of the game than she realizes. "we've already started with our daughter. there are things she wants at the store and we explain that it costs money, we have to earn money, sometimes we don't want to spend any more money, we've already spent enough." "it's definitely something parents should teach their kids." > > how old is your daughter? "three-and-a-half." > > and you're starting to work her already about financial responsibility?

"about two when we started." > > and how is her little piggy bank doing? "it's pretty fat." but the didomenicos are the exception. a survey of more than a thousand parents found financial responsibility one of the least taught lessons children receive at school or from home. the coupon website retailmenot.com found parents spend 59% talking about morals. the rest is taken up by academics, personal hygiene and drugs. only 5% is spent talking with their kids about how to save and not become buried in debt. "it really is ok to sit down and talk about your personal and family finances with your kids, particularly when there's belt-tightening. it's better to discuss with them that that is happening, rather than make it happen and they'll feel they've done something wrong." and sometimes, those lessons form a foundation. last summer, ashley lisenby toured the chicago board options exchange, an eye-opening experience fred banyon, a broker, has given to

hundreds of students. "i think what stuck with me is that my financial situation can change. it's not impossible. i can be smart about my money and smart about my choices and i change my circumstance." "i think it's really important for parents to take it upon themselves, and schools, to teach kids about these matters before they leave the home." the financial responsibility survey was done in conjunction with efforts to encourage shoppers to use coupons as a way to save money. walmart is stepping up its tech game this holiday season. the world's largest retailer is running into stiff competition from stores such as target and e-tailers including amazon. to get an edge, this year, walmart is adding an upgraded app to entice mobile shoppers. smartphone users who have the app will be among the first to learn when the retailer is slashing prices on holiday gifts and immediately hook up to the website to grab the deals. walmart predicts 40% of its holiday web traffic will come

from mobile sales. as a counter, target and best buy are matching walmart prices on certain items. still to come, tips for entrepreneurs. why now could be the time to go into business for yourself. but first, college without the cost. bill moller joins us for some helpful tips on applying for scholorships. that's coming up next.

w expensive

college has gotten? the middle class is being priced out.

parents have to plan early, they need to hustle for any means to bring a college education within the budget. ben kaplan is an entrepreneur. he's been through the process. he's got a model that really helps families make it. he wrote the book 'how to go to college almost for free,' and he runs the company cityofcollegedreams.org. let's talk scholarships. doesn't every parent hold this dream that there's got to be a scholarship out there for their perfect kid? > > that's right. great to be with you bill. you know, that was the dream actually of my parents not too long ago. i had grown up and played competitive tennis. always assumed i could go to school on a tennis scholarship. i got an injury in my back and needed a different way to pay for school, and i discovered there are corporations, foundations, associations, community groups that all reward different scholarships. and the key is, this isn't just for those with high gpas, this isn't just for amazing athletes. so i personally applied for three dozen scholarships. i won two dozen of them and the accumulated $90,000 in scholarship money. it got me into harvard and paid for almost everything. and i've seen thousands of other families do it too. the key is, you have to be proactive, and actually right now is the major

scholarship season. the fall of each year is a great time to search for scholarships. > > but aren't there all these find-a-scholarship websites and services out there? they're all over the internet. > > there are, and actually people kind of use them incorrectly. there are these internet scholarship databases. what you do is you fill out a questionnaire. it's kind of like, if you've ever been on a dating site, where you fill out the questionnaire and they try to match you with a date. this time they try to match you with a scholarship. there are about 12 to 14 pretty good free ones. but the mistake people make is they search one and then they stop. none of these are national clearinghouses, none of these are comprehensive. so you have to search multiple ones, and you have to vary your criteria multiple times. for instance, if you're interested in physics, you might turn up a scholarship for physicists. but that doesn't mean you going to also be matched with a general scholarship for scientists. > > when should parents start this process? > > seventh and eighth grade. because there's actually learning programs that have scholarship money attached. for instance, toshiba has a scholarship for grades k-12. that being said, it's never too late. certainly junior and

senior year is prime time to do this in high school. but also college, graduate school, and even adults going back to school. for instance, talbot's, the women's clothing store, has scholarships for women who have been out of school for at least 10 years who want to go back. so the key is, start now, start right away, wherever you are. > > are you looking for full- ride scholarships, or are you just sort of cobbling together a collection of scholarships? > > i like your word "cobble," because the scholarships that i loved were the small local scholarships that were only a couple hundred dollars. i won 24 of these scholarships. i love those awards because hardly anyone applies for them, and there's a snowball effect. you win the smaller ones and they help you win the larger ones. > > i've got a 13-year-old. i'm going to go home tonight and get right to work. ben kaplan, thanks so much. > > great to be with you. thank you bill. coming up, the small business answer man joins us with what you need to know if you are in business for yourself now or thinking about a start-up. don't go anywhere.

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is now the time to go into business for yourself? that's just one of the questions we are answering this morning. usa today columnist steve strauss, who doles out advice to small business owners. > > what i love is that this actually is a great time to be in business. yes, there are some businesses that are struggling, but we just saw that the unemployment rate dipped to 7.8%. why is that? there are 28 million businesses in this country. 99% of those are small

businesses, meaning 1-, 5-, 10-, 20-employee businesses. so if the unemployment rate is coming down, what does that mean? it means small business is going up and is growing. so it's actually a great time to start and run a business. my dad owned some carpet stores in southern california when i grew up, and the economy went up, and the economy went down, and his business went up, and his business went down. but the truth is, these days, no one has to be dictated by your own local economy. you can do business all over by being online. and there are so many more tools available that allow you to run your business. so, my dad ran his business by himself. if he didn't know something, he didn't know something. today what would you do? you would go online. you would go to a score counselor, you would find some help. it really is an amazing time. i don't mean to sound pollyannaish, but to me this is an amazing time to be in business. > > what's the most popular question you get from small business owners? > > i guess the question i get most often has to do with social media. "how do we make it pay off for our small business?"

because the thing is, people can spend too much time on social media, or, on the other hand, not use it at all. and what i tell people is, follow your customers. if they're on facebook, then you need to be on facebook. but you don't need to be on every social media site as a small-business owner. you don't have to do to pinterest and twitter and facebook. figure out one, master that one, and i think that's the way to go. > > for someone thinking of starting up a company, what businesses are thriving now? > > service businesses are thriving a lot, as our online businesses. if you were to look at one segment of our economy that grows at about a 10% clip a year, would you know what it is? it actually turns out to be e-business. so one of the best things you can do is actually create either your own online business or have some kind of online component to your business, and what you're going to find is, because everyone's gravitating ever more online, that's a growing segment of the economy, you can take advantage of that by going online yourself. up next, the final scene. what

film studios have to offer this holiday season. movies and money is coming up next.

studios are cranking out new films for the holidays. this year three will open at the box office on christmas day. our movie man, erik childress, joins us now with a look at some of the films that will be playing at a theater near you. good to have you on the show. > > thank you. > > do the studios wait and save the best for last? > > i don't think they necessarily save the best for last. we've had movies coming out ever since the beginning of november, stuff like the james bond film, "twilight," "the hobbit" comes out before christmas. so i don't think they hold the best for last, but it is sort of their last chance to close up the books, get some space out from some of those other big blockbusters. we have had films that are even jettisoned from christmas. "the great gatsby," the remake with leonardo dicaprio, was supposed to open on christmas, and the studio thought better of it and

moved it back to may. > > how critical are those box office numbers at christmastime for the studios? > > like i said, it is sort of that last-ditch effort to get in the last big blockbusters of the season. kids are off for christmas, so it's a good time to open movies. christmas in general, christmas day is traditionally a very good day to open a movie, just because people open their christmas presents in the morning and go off to see a movie at night. > > and here is what you might be watching, starting with "django unchained." "you know what a bounty hunter is?" [musi "you kill people." [gunshot > > this is a western with quentin tarantino directing. > > with, also, leonardo dicaprio, jamie foxx, and christoph waltz. tarantino a couple of years ago had "inglourious basterds," which was his biggest hit to date, and a year after that, another western, "true grit," the cohen brothers remake, opened at christmas and did tremendously well on its path to a lot of oscar nominations. i think it is going to be the same for "django" as well. > > and now we will see what the weinsteins can do with a wide start. moving on to "les mis," this has some blockbuster

powerful names behind it: anne hathaway, hugh jackman, russell crowe... > > this is going to be a big holiday event, because it is the first time that the stage musical, "les miserables," has been adapted for the screen. it is director tom hooper's first film since he won the oscar for "the king's speech," best picture. i think both hugh jackman and anne hathaway are going to be sort of in play for best actor, best supporting actress nominations. > > wow. > > so i think there is going to be a lot of interest in the movie, and certainly the awards people will definitely be keeping an eye on this one. > > what about "parental guidance?" this one has billy crystal and bette midler. "grandpa tells lots of jokes that you won't get. just laugh." "they're here!" "hello boy! you still single?" [laughter > > that sounds like a hit, potentially. > > potentially. it's a pg-rated comedy. it's a family movie in general. billy crystal hasn't really had a big hit in a long time. it's his first movie in many years actually. so i think it has potential to do decent numbers, not huge numbers. > > anything to look forward to

in the coming new year? > > there are going to be a couple of movies that are going to be opening around christmastime that are going to be in limited release, and you're not going to see them until january. one of them, very much anticipated, speaking of oscar winners, "zero dark thirty,"hich is kathryn bigelow's follow-up to "the hurt locker." "when was the last time you saw bin laden?" "oh my god, is that what i think it is?" > > this is all about the hunt and the raid for osama bin laden. that is going to be getting a limited release in december, and then in january it is going to start opening wider. there are a lot of hopes for that one. and another really terrific movie, based on a true story, "the impossible," which is based on the 2004 tsunami in thailand. the film stars naomi watts, who should be a best actress player, ewan mcgregor. a really terrific, really heart-wrenching film that people should check out when it goes wide, probably in january. [birds tweet [wind blow [wave crashe [scream > > i have friends who have screamed that, and they said it

is tough to watch, but it is tremendous. > > it is tough to watch but it is very rewarding. > > good to have you on the show and happy holidays erik. > > thank you. that's a wrap for us. make sure and join us back here every weekday morning. from all of us at first business, thank you for watching and have a wonderful day. [musi

. celebrating christmas by giving back, we will tell you about one of the largest benefits in san francisco. more rain approaches the bay area. a church service was hit by gunfire and the usual place it all ended up. it is all ahead on the khou channel 11 news. and a good morning everybody, and of course merry christmas. i